New York we have a problem
by moonshadowcat
Summary: The Final Fantasy Gang in modern day New York. Will they survive our world or our world them. Read and review
1. Daddy where are you?

**I already published this story before. I took it out because, not to many people like it. Now with the help of a beta, i hope that the story is better to read. **

**The story plays after the game before the movie, but for the story needed I certain tools like Fenrir and the Tsurugi so I added them. Also I was in New York as the WTC still stood, im my story it exstits too. **

**Except for one building I made up, are the locations where I write about them, only the interior I cam up with. Now read, enjoy and reiview.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Final Fantasy Universe. If I did I guess I would not write my stories here. lol  
**

They had defeated Sephiroth, and with the help of the Lifestream, saved the planet from Meteor and re-built their lives. Now one year later, Tifa came up with the idea of a reunion. She spoke to Cloud about it, who agreed.

"But where would we hold the reunion?" he questioned doubtfully. "Your bar isn't big enough, the ShinRa Mansion? Err, no thanks. Maybe Shera and Cid's place?"

"Let's call them all, maybe one of them will have an idea." said Tifa.

Over the next two hours they discussed the issue with their friends, but then Red said "Quit it guys. You'll come to Cosmo Canyon. On the flame we have enough space for all of us, and the Inn has enough rooms too. So when will you all be here?" They agreed to have the reunion exactly one week later.

Cloud and Tifa got everything ready. Cloud was running a delivery service with his new bike he called Fenrir, and he had a new sword too. The old Buster Sword he had given as a tribute to Zack, placing it on the cliffs where Zack died.

Cloud and Tifa would go on Cloud's bike, Cid would pick up Yuffie, and Vincent would bring them to Red. Barrett would pick up Cait Sith and bring him and Marlene.

Upon arriving at Cosmo Canyon, Cloud stopped Fenrir and turned him off.

"Look Tifa, Cid is already here."

Tifa hadn't enjoyed the ride, and voiced her complaint. "Oh let me get off this bike, my fanny hurts. How can you drive around on this?"

"Sorry Tifa. It wasn't built to carry two people."

"It's ok, but I think I'll ask Cid to take me home. Now let's see Red." And they went up the stairs to see their friend. Two hours later Barrett arrived too.

Later that evening Barrett put Marlene in bed. She fell asleep quickly, having explored Cosmo Canyon all day. She was especially excited about the observatory and the four big materia.

Gathering around the flame the gang talked, laughed and just had a good time. Shortly after midnight, Cloud had just told some stories about his delivery service when Cid asked him "I haven't seen your new sword yet. Would you show it to me?"

Cloud nodded. "Wait, I'll get Fenrir here too so I can show him to you, I know you'll like him."

Cloud left and returned with the huge bike. He started to open the sword case when a voice piped "Daddy can I have them? They're so pretty."

They all turned, and there stood Marlene, and in her hands… "The big materia" growled Red.

"No Marlene, we can never have them close together." he warned her.

Then there was a huge blinding flash.

"Daddy? DADDY! Where is everyone?"


	2. Where am I? Part 1

"What the hell happened? Holy shit! What is that? Where am I?" Cid looked around and quickly jumped out of the way of a funny looking vehicle that was coming toward him.

'_Well I'm not in Cosmo Canyon anymore_' he thought.

Making one 360° turn he noticed that none of his friends were with him. He was alone, wherever he was. It was very warm and he noticed funny looking trees, and those strange vehicles.

"Cool outfit man." someone said behind him.

Cid turned to face a young dark skinned man.

"Looking sharp, but what is with that staff?" the young man asked him.

"Touch it and I'll show you, but you may not survive it." Cid threatened the stranger.

"Easy man, I was just asking. Keep your shirt on."

"Where am I?" Cid decided to find the most important answer first.

"Whaddya mean oldtimer? This is L.A."

"What is L.A?" demanded Cid. Now the young man stared at him. "You an alien or something? L.A. man. Ok Los Angeles in California."

"What is an alien and what the hell is California?" Cid just felt more confused by the answers he had been given.

The man started to laugh, but stopped a few seconds later because Cid had taken a step forward and now held him by the neck.

"Tell me you son of a bitch or you'll die"

The man nodded. Cid let go of his neck but held him by the front of his shirt. "Ok ok take it easy. You are here in the city of Los Angles in the state of California. California is a part of the United States of America. And an alien is someone who is not born in America or someone not from our planet called Earth."

And with this the young man took off running because Cid had let go of him.

Cid was not on Gaia anymore.

Yuffie had made the same realization. She opened her eyes to find herself standing on a square in a strange city. There were people everywhere, most of them drunk by the looks of them, and they were dressed very oddly too. '_There must be some kind of celebration going on here'_ she thought and started to walk around to find out more about her situation.

"Great costume you've got cutie." someone said.

"Call me cutie one more time and you die." Yuffie hissed at the two men staring at her.

"Bill did you hear what she said?" asked one to the other. "Cutie, kiss me and you get some beads." the other slurred at the ninja.

"You try that and you'll find out what pain is." Yuffie started to draw her Conformer. In this moment a few more men arrived.

"Oh ho a beauty! Show us your boobs for beads!" one of them said. Yuffie exploded. In a furry of fists and feet she sent the men flying, not one of them got up again. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to kick this newcomer's ass, she faced a man in a funny looking uniform.

"Now girl, first of all what is someone your age doing here, and second, how did you do that?" with this he pointed toward the unconscious men.

"I am Yuffie, a ninja from Wutai" Yuffie declared. "And what about my age?"

"Hm, drunk and underage! You come with me. I have to call your parents."

"I am not drunk and I am not coming with you. I have to find my friends."

"Young lady, you are coming with me. I don't know how you did what you did to those men, but you can't be out at Mardi Gras in New Orleans this late at night."

To find out where she was and what had happened, Yuffie went with the man.

Tifa sat in a cell fuming. "Let me out or else!" she screamed.

"Relax hun. They'll let you out tomorrow when you give them your stats. So take it easy." This came from the woman who was in the same cell as Tifa.

Tifa studied her. The woman was wearing a very short skirt, shorter than Tifa's, and a tight shirt. Her Make-up was heavy too and she was chewing something. Tifa also noticed her cellmate was wearing very high heels. She decided to find out what happened.

Five minutes after Tifa appeared in a group of woman, some uniformed men had grabbed her and thrown her into an armored car with the other woman. Then she ended up in this cell.

"Where am I?" Tifa asked the woman.

"In jail, where else?"

Tifa sighed, this would not be easy. "well ma'am, I am not from here, so can you please tell me where exactly I am?"

"Oh, you're a foreigner or something, sorry hun. You are in a jail in San Francisco. You got arrested because those cops thought you were a prostitute, because of the way you dress."

"A PROSTITUTE!" screamed Tifa. Calming down a little she asked again. "Ma'am, sorry to bother you but..."

"Oh I can tell by your accent you're not from here. Sweetie, San Francisco is a city in the U.S. So where are you from?"

"Edge." muttered Tifa, now wondering what the U.S. was.

On a beach stood Vincent staring out at the water, pondering the situation he found himself in.

'_I'm not in Cosmo Canyon anymore; bringing those materia together must have moved us to the ends of the continents. Now we know what we can do with them.'_ Then Vincent spotted something on the water.

Two men dressed in colorful outfits were standing on the water. He watched them, intrigued. One of the men came up to the beach carrying some type of large oval shaped board.

"hmm, so he can float or walk on water using that board." Vincent muttered. The second man fell into the water, and he too used a board. The man on the beach came up to Vincent and stared at him.

"Cool dude, but don't you sweat in that outfit?" he asked. Vincent only understood half of what the man said; he had a funny accent.

"May I ask where I am?"

"Sure dude, you are in San Diego, home of some of the best waves. By the way, I'm Jonny, what's your name?"

"Vincent" replied the former Turk. "I'm not from around here. Where exactly is San Diego? I am lost."

"Vinny my man, I noticed your accent. San Diego is in California in the beautiful US of A, the best place on Earth."

"May I ask you one more thing?"

"Sure dude, go ahead."

"Why did you look at me as though you've never someone dressed as I am?"

"Well I haven't, only in movies. In Hollywood or L.A. you'll be fine, but somewhere else? Who knows?"

"Thank you for your answers, I have to look for my friends now." Vincent knew what he had to do.


	3. Where am I? Part 2

Tifa was not the only one in a cell; Red was in a cage too. One hour after arriving in the middle of a road, he was caught. A woman had spotted him and started to scream, and a few minutes later men in uniforms carrying guns were chasing him.

To avoid hurting anyone Red had run, but after a while he found himself in an alley with no way out. A differently dressed man came up behind the uniformed ones and shot him with a dart. Two minutes later Red was unconscious.

Now he was awake, but noticing voices he decided to listen.

"What is that?" a man asked.

"I have no idea, however the closest animal I can come up with is a longer legged lion, but lions don't have flaming tails." That was a woman's voice.

"Do you think someone illegally bred that thing?" A different man's voice asked.

"We have to do some tests, but I think this is a new species." The woman said.

"Alright Dr. Brown, we'll leave. You know what you have to do. Come Mr. Stone."

Red heard someone leave and opened his eyes. The woman noticed that. "Oh you're awake. You are a beautiful animal. Hmm, I don't know what you are, but we'll find out."

She picked something up. "Harris, Dr. Brown here. I need water and meat for the new animal. Bring it to my door. Oh and Harris, no one, and I mean NO ONE is to enter here. I'll lock the door when I leave. I am the only one to have contact. Thank you."

She turned toward Red. "You look like you understand me. Well I am going to leave you alone so the drugs can wear off. Tomorrow I'll find out what you are."

After she put the water and meat in his cage, she left and locked the door. Red was alone. 

Barrett stood in a deserrt.

"What the hell happened?" Looking around he noticed he was alone. Wondering what was going on, he started walking, and after a while he noticed a sign which read:

"You are on U.S. Government property. Turn around. If you trespass we will use deadly force"

This was signed by The Army. '_Who the hell is the Army and what is this business about U.S. Government? I think the guys are playing a joke on me_.' he thought and kept on walking.

Suddenly he heard the sound of thunder.

'_A summon? Who? What?' _Barrett thought and transformed his gun arm, ready to fire at any danger.

Shortly after he heard a second thundering noise, and looked up at the sky to see what was causing it.

"What the hell is THAT?" he screamed. There in the sky was a plane, but nothing like he had ever seen before. It was moving very fast toward him. He looked around for cover, but found nothing. So he just stood there and watched the plane fly over him, make a circle and then fly off.

'_ShinRa is destroyed, who could build those?' _he thought.

He heard a motor and turned to check it out. There was a green truck covered by a tarp coming his way. Barrett stayed where he was, maybe they could take him back to Cosmo Canyon, whoever they were.

The truck stopped short of him and four men jumped off, all dressed in strange looking uniforms.

One stepped up to Barrett. "I want your Name, Address, and Social Security Number. And for you to explain what you are doing here. Can't you read?"

Barrett stared at the man. "Who, what?"

"Ok one more time. What are you doing here? Did you not read that sign back there?"

Barrett got pissed "Kiss my ass. I don't know where I am. I want to go back to my girl. So now you tell me, where am I and can you bring me back to Cosmo Canyon?"

"You are at Area 51, an Army Facility. I will arrest you and take you there. And where the hell is Cosmo Canyon. And shit, what is THAT? NO YOU DON'T!"

Barrett started to shoot. A few minutes later he was the only one left alive. He knew he had a problem, but now he at least had a vehicle.

The only one out of the gang who knew what was going on was Cait Sith. He had arrived in a store that sold television sets, many of which were on.

Watching one of the screens quietly, he got the general idea that somehow, the materia must have transported them to a different planet. Watching everything carefully, he noticed that the people here used guns and not swords. And they were dressed differently too.

'_Shit. Cloud, Yuffie and I are in trouble, we stand out too much. The others should be all right though. The only thing is, we have to find each other before the inhabitants of this world kill us. And I can't leave because there are no other robots like me.'_

Cait Sith decided to stay put and wait.


	4. The Chase

Cloud stood next to Fenrir with his sword in hand, staring at a tall statue of a woman holding a torch. Standing on the edge of what seemed to be a large body of water, he noticed behind him a park with trees and benches.

Someone screamed, and lightning quick he turned in the direction that the sound had come from. There stood a woman staring at him.

"He has a sword, are they making a movie or is he a nutcase?"

More people turned toward him. Cloud did not know where he was, but realized he had to leave before he drew too much attention to himself.

Sheathing his sword, Cloud jumped on Fenrir and took off through the park. He arrived on a street blocked with heavy traffic. Noticing how strange the vehicles looked, he decided to just drive on until he found a place to hide and think. One street was wider and almost straight. He followed this street, and with his mako enhanced senses he noticed that in this strange city the streets had no names but numbers and that went up.

He heard an eerie sound behind him. In his rear view mirror he saw some vehicles arriving that had flashing lights on their roofs. The people in the street jumped to the side when those vehicles came close, so he knew they were some kind of troops.

Weaving in and out of traffic, Cloud sped up, now driving almost full speed. With his reflexes he knew he could handle it. He reached an intersection of two streets. In the middle of the intersection a truck blocked his path, and before and behind him were some of the smaller vehicles.

Quickly he looked around, noticing a street sign that read 33rd Street, and turned onto it. Then he spotted a tall building with lettering and two wide open doors. Cloud decided to take a chance; he drove through those doors.

A second later he realized that it was a mistake. The building was filled with people, who by the looks of it were shopping. He was inside a store, not a building he could get out of easily. At the sound of the motorcycle people turned and jumped aside, and Cloud had to slow down in order not to hurt anyone.

The vehicles chasing him arrived at the doors a moment later, and men jumped out, ran inside, drew guns and started to shoot at him. Cloud drew his sword to dodge the bullets. There was a tumult inside the building, and a flood of people running out the doors.

Cloud knew he had to leave the building quickly or someone would get hurt. There on his right was some kind of metal staircase that ascended. He drove up it, noticed a second one, and took that too. He drove up five more of these stairs, and then had to stop, having reached a dead end.

Searching for an exit he saw an elevator, and got an idea. Cloud looked down over the balustrade, where the troops had started up the stairs after him, and saw that a few were inside one or two of the elevators. There was also an empty one moving up, almost on his level.

He drove Fenrir over. The doors of the elevator opened, and he quickly studied the room. A tight fit, so Cloud turned Fenrir around and backed into the small space. He pushed a button labeled 0.

The doors closed and he plummeted down. Cloud sheathed his sword again and gripped the handlebars; this needed to be done quickly. A few seconds later he arrived at the bottom floor and the doors opened. Giving Fenrir full gas Cloud drove toward the building's main exit at high speed. There were still those vehicles out there, but Cloud saw that there was enough space between them and drove through. He saw another wide street and sped down that way, noticing a sign reading "Broadway".

Cloud heard the sirens again, and knew that the troops were still following him; and by the sound if it increasing in number. He was still weaving in and out of traffic. Cloud saw lights ahead of him and what looked like a wide open square.

He slowed down a little, searching for somewhere to escape the troops. Arriving at the square he saw buildings with lights flashing and people everywhere. He swore, but then noticed a sign and stairs leading down.

'_maybe those vehicles won't be able to follow me underground,_ _But what is a subway and what the hell is 42nd Street'_

Cloud drove down, and a second later his eyes widened. There was a metal barrier in front of him, but in an instant he had his sword in hand and destroyed it. Then he drove on. A few minutes later he arrived on a platform full of people who stared at him in astonishment. Cloud noticed two tracks.

'_An underground train.'_ he thought '_This may lead me somewhere safe.'_ And Cloud drove Fenrir to the nearest track and took off into the dark tunnel.

Now he was driving more slowly, noticing platforms along the way and a rail on the side of the tracks, which sparked. He made a mental note to be careful not to touch that. He heard a very low rumble, and looked over his shoulder. There behind him, a ways back was a light – a train. Cloud sped up a little; he needed to get away from that train. He also needed an empty platform, so that not too many people would notice him.

The noise behind him grew louder and by taking one look in his rear view mirror, Cloud saw that the train was gaining on him, fast. Now speeding up again, Cloud drove for his life; if that train caught him he would be dead.

Managing to stay just barely ahead of the train, Cloud grew tired, driving Fenrir on the tracks hurt his arms and body, but he kept going at full speed.

Suddenly the train slowed down with sparks flying everywhere and there was a light up ahead. Cloud decided this was his exit. He managed to jump with Fenrir onto the platform and stopped, shaking. Then came the train, which also stopped. Cloud stared at it, but then decided to leave quickly before anyone saw him.

Again destroying a barrier and driving up a staircase, he arrived back aboveground and saw some kind of forest or park. He drove quickly into it. A few moments later a crash was heard; Cloud had found some kind of boarded up building and torn some boards off the door.

He pulled Fenrir inside the building, closed the door and sat down. He needed to rest and then find out where the hell he was.


	5. Where is New York? Part 1

Cait Sith was watching the TV screens when suddenly some of them changed. Letters ran across them which read "Newsflash", and then a man came on the screen and started to talk.

"In the City of New York an incident happened a few minutes ago. A man, believed to be some kind of crazy maniac, drove a motorcycle through a mall and later into the subway at Times Square. The man was dressed in a black uniform of some sort, and was described as blond, lean and armed with a... you've got to be kidding me Joe!"

The man turned to someone Cait could not see. "Ok he was not armed with a gun but with a sword."

'_Cloud'_ thought Cait Sith. Now he knew at least one of his friends was still alive. He kept watching the news.

"The man got out of the subway at Central Park and disappeared. Anyone who sees this man please call 1-800-555-2424 to make ..."

Cait decided he'd heard enough. Noticing that the store had slowly emptied while he had been watching, Cait took the opportunity to investigate. Cautiously he crept toward the tall glass plane he had noticed earlier. Suddenly the lights dimmed down. Cait stood still, but then moved on. He stopped at a corner of the store occupied by books and maps.

He pulled one of the maps out and went over to a light to study it. It was labeled United States of America. Looking at all the names on the map, he realized this America was a huge country. On the one coast was a city whose name he knew, he had heard it earlier. The name of that city was New York.

Cait found a door and because it was still open, crept out. He was on some type of square with this building on it. On the front of the building was an inscription in light that read "Oregon Mall". Cait found a streetlamp and looked at the map he had taken.

"Holy Shit! Now what?" he asked no one in particular, realizing he and Cloud were separated by the whole of America. He went back into the store.

Yuffie followed the man to a building and inside. The man gave her a cup of something sweet to drink, and asked her who her parents were and where she lived. She always gave the same answer. Then a second man entered.

"Evening George, who you got there?"

"Remy, this is Yuffie. A run-away, but she's street smart, she whupped a few asses."

"I'm not a run-away." interrupted Yuffie "I told you that. I have to find my friends. May I ask where I am, Sir?"

George looked at her. "If you're not drunk, how can you not know you're in New Orleans? I looked it up, but there is no city called Wutai. So girl, before I arrest you I'll ask you one more time; who are you and where are you from?"

At that moment Remy said "Turn up the sound on the TV, there's something funny going on in New York City."

All of them watched the newsflash. Then Remy turned toward Yuffie "Now girl, talk or we will put you under arrest." A second later, he and George were unconscious.

Cid went to a bar to think. While he got himself a drink, he noticed that the bar patrons seemed to be watching some kind of game on TV. It being dark in the bar Cid could avoid being stared at. He had to find the others and they had to get back to Cosmo Canyon somehow.

One of the men screamed "Danny turn that off I want to watch the game."

Cid turned toward the TV where a man was talking about an incident. Suddenly Cid heard the word "sword". He stood up and said "Don't touch that Danny I need to hear that."

"But I don't." that was the drunk.

Cid replied nicely "No, I really would like to hear that."

"Turn that dial Danny." the drunk stubbornly repeated.

"You touch that dial and I will cause you so much pain you won't know if you are male or female, Danny. AND YOU SHUT UP YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Five minutes later Cid left the bar. He needed to figure out how to get to New York City and find Cloud.

Tifa still sat in jail, and was still fuming, when the door opened and a uniformed man came to the cell.

"Hey you're next, come with me."

Tifa got up and followed the man into an office. "Sit down. Hmm you must be new I haven't seen you before. Ok Name, Address, and Social Security Number, and we need prints."

"I am not a prostitute." denied Tifa vehemently.

"That's what they all say, so spill your beans."

"My name is Tifa Lockhart, I live in Edge and what is a Social Security Number?" Tifa sighed.

"Well hello illegal alien. I'm going to take your prints, then we'll go from there."

Behind them stood a TV monitor, which the man turned on. There was a newsflash, and Tifa and the man watched.

'_Cloud.'_ she thought _'In New York, wherever that is. I have to get out of here.'_

"Sir may I ask you one more thing?" Tifa put on her charm.

"Sure baby why not, I have to take your prints, and if I can I'll answer you."

"Alright Sir, where is New York City?"

"New York is 3000 miles away on the other side of the country."

Tifa's heart sank. _'So far.'_

"What will happen to me?" She wanted to know.

"With you being illegal, you'll have to stay here, so I'll put you back in the cell. Tomorrow we'll see. "

Tifa jumped up and with a few punches deposited the man on the floor. Quietly she opened the door of the office, and saw three more uniformed men sitting there. Her famous attack took care of those too. She started to leave but then turned back.

"Hi hun, did they let you go?" asked the woman Tifa had shared a cell with earlier.

"No, but I need to go to New York City. I have no idea how to get there and I need your help. I'll let you out."


	6. Where is New York? Part 2

Vincent had broken into a store, taken some clothes and changed. He couldn't do anything about his arm, but he got some kind of poncho to cover it. And finding a rucksack he put his old clothes into it and left.

"Heya dude, now you look better." commented the "surfer" Vincent had met on the beach. "Did you find your friends?"

"No not yet Jimmy, I'm starting to worry about them."

"Come to my place, there you can eat and make some calls." Vincent went with the man.

When they got to the apartment, Jimmy turned on a TV and they both sat down.

"WOW dude look at that." said Jimmy and Vincent turned toward the TV to watch.

'_Cloud is apparently in New York City, but where everybody else is I don't know.'_ he thought but then a second newsflash caught his attention.

"Today in San Diego a lion was caught running free in the streets. The lion was brought to the San Diego Zoo. The animal was described as an unusually colored lion. The witnesses told us he was red not fawn like a normal lion. Maybe over the next few days we can bring you a picture."

'_Red is here in San Diego. I need to get to him and we'll…_ Vincent's thoughts trailed off.

"Jimmy do you have a vehicle?"

"Sure dude I have a pickup, why?"

"Jimmy, I think I found a couple of my friends but I have to ask you two questions."

"Sure Vincent go ahead."

"First could I borrow that pickup, and second where is the Zoo?"

Barrett drove away from where he'd shot the soldiers who tried to arrest him, meanwhile looking for any sign of the planes he had seen overhead. He knew the soldiers would be missed so he decided to put enough space between them and himself.

After driving for an hour he noticed lights in the distance, a city by the looks of it.

'_It might not be Cosmo Canyon, but I still could find answers there'_

Barrett arrived at another sign. This one read:

"Welcome to famous Las Vegas"

He looked around, watching the people. "I need to hide my arm or I'm in trouble." He muttered and stopped the truck.

Searching the back he found a coat that fit him. Hoping this would cover enough he drove on, his eyes growing bigger at the sight.

Farther into the city he stopped at a bar. He stepped inside and sat in a dark corner. No one was watching him so he felt safe at the moment, but people kept staring at something and then Barrett heard a man scream "A nutcase in New York City! Great! I hope he chops some cop's heads off with that sword of his. They harassed me a couple of times. You go boy!"

Barrett thought _'What was that about?' _He went over to the man and asked.

"What were you talking about before?"

The man told him about the newsflash he had seen.

"I have one more question" said Barrett.

"Sure Sergeant go ahead."

"Oh you mean my outfit. No I bought that. Can I ask where New York City is?"

The man told him and Barrett quickly left the bar. He needed to get to New York City.


	7. Jessy

After Cloud had rested, he thought about his situation. He was alone in a strange place and troops where after him. Everything looked unfamiliar, and while driving through that store he had noticed that even his clothes stood out.

Then there was a noise at the door. He got up and drew one of the smaller blades out of Fenrir's compartment, and waited.

The door opened and in stepped a small figure. Cloud waited silently for the figure to enter fully, and then with his enhanced speed reached out and caught the intruder.

"Hey let me go! I'll kick your ass! I'll Scream!"

Cloud quickly put a hand over the person's mouth, who he guessed by the sound of their voice was a girl.

"Quiet!" he hissed. "I'm not going to hurt you! But if you scream I'll have to knock you out."

The girl nodded and Cloud released her mouth. "Who are you? What are you doing at my place? Piss off!" the girl said.

"Your place? I don't think so." said Cloud.

"Yeah my place, so get out."

Cloud had had enough. Keeping hold of the girl with only one hand, he pulled a materia out. _'Let's hope this works.'_ he thought, and asked the girl. "Is there wood here? I can make a fire so we'll have light and warmth."

"Yeah over there in the corner. Follow me."

Two minutes later there was a blazing fire.

"How did you do that? Are you a magician or something like that? Who are you?" the girl asked accusingly.

Cloud looked at her. She was about Yuffie's age, dressed in torn clothes and had dirt smudged on her face.

He sighed. "If I release you and tell you what you want to know, will you promise not to tell those troops that I'm here?"

"Troops? What troops?"

"The ones that have those vehicles with the sirens and the lights on top" Cloud thought they were hard to miss.

"You mean cops. No I will not. I can't! Aw shit!"

Now Cloud was curious about this girl, and wondered if she might be able to help him.

"My name is Cloud Strife. I am a stranger here and I got in some trouble today with those tr… I mean cops. I promise I won't hurt you, and if you allow me to stay here with you, I will protect you. I might need your help, so would you tell me your name?"

The girl thought for a moment and then answered "Gosh you have beautiful eyes, but your hair! It's, well… sorry Cloud. I accept, and offer my help. My name is Jessy by the way."

When Cloud told Jessy parts of his story, she looked at him and started to laugh.

"I wish I had seen that. You and that motorcycle in the Mall and the Subway. Ok baby, you are here in New York City so... you need some different clothes, a pair of sunglasses to hide those eyes, they are gorgeous but too noticeable, and you'll have to leave the bike here. Then you should be alright. But one question, do you by any chance know how to fight?" Jessy asked him.

Cloud grinned. "Yeah I know!"

Jessy and Cloud talked until after midnight, and then went "shopping".


	8. On the way to New York 1

Yuffie needed a vehicle, and she needed to know how to get to New York City.

Creeping down the street, she noticed a store where vehicles stopped to gas up. There she also spotted a sign which read "Maps".

Watching closely, she noticed that some people used doors at the outside of the building. She went over to one of the doors; there stood a "Boys" bathroom.

'_Hmm maybe I can get...'_ she thought and went to work.

"Excuse me Sir may I use your bathroom please?" Yuffie asked the man behind the counter. She stood next to the rack with the maps.

"Certainly young Lady. Here is the key."

Smiling innocently, Yuffie accepted the key and left. Later she sat down and studied her newly acquired map.

"Holy shit, that is really far from here to New York, but I'm gonna make it. Let's see, I can't drive those vehicles, but… Hello! A motorcycle! That I can drive." muttered Yuffie to herself while watching a young man pulling up.

She waited for the young man to go into the store and then jumped on the bike and drove off. Yuffie found the I-10 E she had to take, and then followed the directions on the map. But she grew tired so she stopped at a barn to sleep. Before she fell asleep, she tried to call Cloud to no avail.

The next day she drove on, only stopping here and there to steal money or gas. By late evening she found herself on the NJ 139. Now she just had to find the exit to the I-78 E, and she'd be almost there.

Barrett was having some good luck; a man gave him a few coins and told him to "try his luck", and after watching what the other was doing, he put them in a kind of machine with a handlebar. A few seconds later he had a huge pile of coins in his hands.

He exchanged the coins for the money of this world and bought two things, a newspaper and a map. Sitting in a diner he studied the paper.

"Hey what is that?" he muttered to himself as he read the article about the new species found in San Diego. "Red is in San Diego, Cloud's in New York, and I'm in Las Vegas, now let's see."

Barrett pulled the map out to study it and decided to drive first to San Diego, since it was closer. And so he drove off toward California.

While driving past Los Angeles he noticed that there were no other trucks like his on the road, and he knew he had to lose the vehicle. He came by a lot filled with vehicles and stopped. He got an idea. After dark he went to that lot, where earlier he had noticed a truck like his but a different color.

He pulled the tarp off his truck and exchanged for the dark blue one of the new truck. Then he saw that the plates on the vehicles were different, and exchanged them as well. Now he had a green truck with a blue tarp and California plates.

'_Now I'm a little safer'_ he thought and drove toward San Diego.

The telephone rang, and a man answered

"This is Howard Farrington speaking. May I ask who's calling? Colonel Miller. Hm. Aha. No! Wait! I'll put you on speaker. Mr. President you have to listen to this."

"Here is Colonel Miller from Area 51."

"Mr. President earlier today we had an incident. One of our planes noticed a man close to our facility, a second saw him too. We dispatched a vehicle with five soldiers to check it out. They did not return. So we sent more troops out and they found all of them dead and the truck missing. No signs of that man or our vehicle. Now what are we going to do Mr. President?"

The President thought about it for a moment.

"Col. Miller, I will put the army and every police force on alert. We will find that man and make him pay. But you keep me posted."

"Mr. Farrington" the President turned now to him "run a warrant on that man and the missing truck."

"Of course Mr. President."

Tifa had found out the woman's name was Angela.

They sat together in Angela's apartment and talked. Angela told her story and Tifa hers. Angela worked for a man who took most of the money she earned away from her. Tifa did not understand all of it, but didn't question her.

Then came a knock at the door. Angela went to answer it, and Tifa heard a slapping sound and a man's voice.

"You stupid bitch, got yourself arrested. A half a night lost. Thank goodness that Evelyn and Cherrie worked, I already cashed them up and ...who the hell are you?"

A second later the man was lying on the floor unconscious.

Angela, taken aback by the sudden violence from her new friend, stared at Tifa. "How did you do that? Oh god now he's gonna kill me!"

Tifa shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll take you with me, and then you'll be free from this son of a bitch. Let's check how much money he has."

They tied the man up and took his money. As they were doing this, he woke up and started to yell at them.

Annoyed, Tifa put a gag in his mouth and hissed at him "Listen you son of a whore. I kicked your ass once and I can do it again. I'm taking Angela with me. Search for her, and me and my friends will show you how much pain a human can survive. We will call someone to release you tomorrow, so be grateful."

What the man saw in Tifa's eyes scared him. He simply nodded.

Tifa turned to Angela. "Is this enough money, and do you think we need different clothes?"

"You just need a jacket. No wait, it's colder there. Let's get some jeans and warmer outfits. Oh yeah and I want to make some calls, and you need an I.D."

Three hours later Tifa and Angela were on their way to the airport to check for a flight to New York City. There was one at 5:30 a.m.

The lights came back on where Red was still in his cage. He looked over to the door. This woman, Dr. Brown, stepped in and came toward his cage.

"Oh you haven't eaten anything. Hmm. I was too curious about you, I had to come back. Those two assholes want to cut you open, but I put my foot down. A unique species? No way José! I'm not going to let that happen. I just need a few hairs from you and then I'll know who and what you are. But let's turn the radio on; everything goes better with a little music"

Red listened to the music for a while and watched the woman. Then something caught his attention. A man on the radio was speaking about an incident in New York City involving a man on a bike, who had on a uniform and a sword.

'_Sword? Motorcycle? Cloud!_' Red thought.

He looked at the woman, it needed to be done. He got up and growled low. She turned her attention toward him and came closer to the cage.

"What? Are you in pain? I talk to you, but you can't tell me if you hurt. I wish I was Dr. Dolittle."

"Actually Dr. Brown, I can talk. No I'm not hurt, but I must tell you something."

She stared at him and fainted.


	9. On the way to New York 2

After a while she came around. Realizing she lay next to the cage where he could reach her, she looked at him.

"You..you can speak. What are you? Holy shit this is..."

"Ma'am sorry to interrupt but I need to talk to you. You seem to be a nice person, and I think I can trust you. I need to get out of here. There was a story about someone I know on the radio and I have to find that someone and get back home."

Dr. Brown thought about that for quite a while.

"Those idiots want to cut you to pieces. Ok tell me the whole story and I'll think about what I can do for you."

And so Red spent two hours explaining.

"So let me get this straight, Nanaki. Your friend is in New York City; he can use what you call Materia, which is what we would call magic, and he has a sword and is a warrior. Boy, sounds like a Hollywood movie. And there are still some friends of yours missing. You have a problem, but I'll get you out."

She opened the cage and Red walked out. "Thank you Dr. Brown. I know I have a problem; I saw how people reacted to me so I..."

There was a knock on the door. "Shit, Nanaki get back in the cage quick!"

Red ran back into the cage and pulled the door closed without locking it. Dr. Brown went toward the door.

"Who's there?" No answer. Carefully she opened the door. There stood two men; a blond and a dark-haired one. The dark-haired one said quietly "Dr. Brown? I think you have my friend."

"Vincent!" this came from Red.

Vincent introduced Jimmy to Red and Dr. Brown. The four sat down to come up with a plan to get Vincent and Red to New York City. Suddenly something in Vincent's pocket rang.

He startled, and then pulled out a phone.

"This is Vincent, who is calling? Good, did you find anyone else? Yes I know Cloud is in New York. Where exactly are you? Alright, look for signs that say Balboa Park, they will lead you to the Zoo. Yes we'll wait. Bye."

"Dr. Brown, Red, that was Barrett. He's here in San Diego as well. He will be here shortly and he has a vehicle, however he had to shoot some people to get it.

"Dr. Brown, what is Area 51 and the Army?"

Dr. Brown bleached. "You guys have serious trouble if the Army is looking for you. Boy you need more than a vehicle; you need the Space Shuttle or at least an airplane."

"We have a friend who's a pilot, but we don't know where he is."

With this they all fell silent, waiting for Barrett.

The store opened and in came shoppers. Cait had hid himself between the toys, where no one would notice him for what he was.

A woman with a boy came over to the toys. "David, we're going on vacation later today, so pick a toy to take with you to New York City."

Cait thought fast, and started to move and speak and wave his arms. The boy came closer.

"Hi what's your name? I am a robotic cat. I can tell your fortune, play with you, and do your homework."

"Mom I want that one." the boy said pointing to Cait.

The woman came over. "Well Davy you can't have a real cat with your allergy, but if you want that one I'll get it for you."

She picked up the robotic cat and went to the counter to pay. After a short discussion (Cait did not have a price tag), she paid $15.00, and along with David and Cait, left the store for their home.

David played with Cait, spoke to him and then sat down to watch TV. Cait watched too. He learned that they were still looking for Cloud, and something about a new species found in San Diego, a red lion.

'_Red'_ thought Cait, but then something caught his eye. A woman came on, standing in front of a glass cage.

"This is Andrea Young speaking. I am here at the Smithsonian Institute, the George Gustav Heve Center in New York City. This is a museum for Indian Art and Artifacts. Opening soon is an exhibit showcasing four of the most beautiful crystals ever found on American soil, have a look."

The view changed, and in the glass cages were…_'the big Materia, they exist here too. Now where is this place? We need to find them.'_

The woman came back on "If you want to visit the exhibition the museum is located at 1 Bowling Green Gem #1 in New York by the Battery Park, close to the Brooklyn – Battery Tunnel."

"David your things are packed, you got your new toy? Daddy is going to pick us up in half an hour."

Cait was on his way to Cloud and the materia.

Cid's phone rang. Looking around he pulled it out.

"Cid here. Who?"

"Cid this is Vincent, where are you?"

"VINCENT! I'm in Los Angeles, that's in California."

"Barrett, Red and I are in Californa too, in a city called San Diego. I have to tell you something. You need to find us an airplane and quickly, or we will have a problem. Cid, hold on a second."

Cid heard a conversation in the background, and then Vincent came back on. "Cid a friend of mine informed me that close to Los Angeles there is a museum. It's called the Western Museum of Flight located in the city of Torrance. Red, Barrett and I are coming to you. Get to the museum, see what you can find and call us please. We have a truck, but it would take us four days to get where Cloud is, so we need that plane."

"Holy shit! Ok Vincent I'll try. You guys make it over here fast. I saw that report too, so I know we're all in big trouble here. Bye."

Now Cid knew where he had to go. A few hours later he arrived at the museum and looked around. Nothing like the Sierra but a few planes he could possibly fly. He called Vincent.

"Vincent here."

"I found the right one. We can fly to New York City." And Cid waited for his friends.


	10. Coming toghether

When Yuffie arrived in New York, the first thing she did was ditch the bike she had stolen, since people kept staring at her when she drove it.

'_So now I have to find this Central Park.'_ she thought.

Yuffie saw something called "Subway" and decided to study it. Noticing a map with different colored lines, she wondered what that was. Then she saw one line that went toward a park, the Central Park.

Watching people to see how they handled the barriers, she saw she needed something to get through. Yuffie sighed, she'd need to play nice girl again.

Spotting an elderly woman she went over to her.

"Pardon me Ma'am, I need to get home but I lost my money. Would you be so nice as to help me?"

The woman looked at her.

"Sure girl, here's a token. Would that help you?"

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you very much." Yuffie took the token, went through the barrier and then to the subway she needed.

As the train arrived, she watched it in wonder. It reminded Yuffie of the trains that used to be in Midgar. When it came to a stop, she got on and sat down, noticing that a little ways down the train sat four young men who looked a little like her. One of them stood up and came over.

"Cutie, how about it, wanna have some fun together?"

"Leave me alone." replied Yuffie.

"Yo guys, come over here. She's playing hard to get."

The other three men came over too. There were some other passengers on the train, but Yuffie noticed they were looking away. At the end of the train sat a couple; the man was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap, and the woman was wearing jeans and a parker.

Now all four men stood in front of Yuffie and started to bother her. Yuffie, who wanted to keep a low profile, tried not to anger the men, but they insisted on bugging her.

Yuffie was getting pissed, and knew she needed to get off this train and away from the men before she was forced to do something that would draw a lot of attention.

"Listen you assholes, my stop is coming, so leave me alone!"

"No way hun, we want to have fun with you. Guys hold her!"

Yuffie tried to get up but had no luck; one of the men had caught her hand and gripped it. A kick sent him flying.

"Whoa, this girl knows how to fight. Let's make sure she goes with us!"

He whistled, and six more men came over. Yuffie managed to keep the closer men away from her by kicking and punching them, but there wasn't much room, so they were getting closer.

"Yeah, now you're ours." the first one said, but then stopped suddenly as one of his comrades went flying by. Someone else had entered the fight.

Now it was ten against two, and Yuffie decided she'd had enough. With her world famous ninja attack it took her only two minutes to get rid of those four men, who would be waking up with pain like they'd never experienced before.

Turning to help her mysterious ally, her eyes grew wide. The man was a superb fighter.

He had just finished the last man, when he turned to her and said. "Yuffie, what are you doing here?"

She had found Cloud.

"Cl..." she started to say when he interrupted her.

"Not here Yuffie, we'll get off at the next stop."

He turned to someone behind him and said "Jessy, this is one of my friends, she's coming with us."

At the next stop the three of them got off and quickly disappeared. The people on the subway were left wondering what had just happened.

Angela and Tifa arrived at JFK airport, went through customs, and now stood in front of the building.

"Angela I need to get to Central Park, do you know where that is?" Tifa asked.

"No hun, but let's ask someone how to get there. Wait there's a cab."

Angela went over to a chocobo colored vehicle and spoke to the man sitting inside. Then she returned to Tifa.

"Ok, we can go by cab, bus or subway. Let me count how much money we have left."

After a minute she said "Hmm, we have to take the subway, it's a long ride but all we can afford. Let's go."

Tifa followed Angela to the subway, while thinking about their situation.

"Angela listen, I'm going to find my friend, but what will you do?"

"Hun, dont worry. I'll find a way, I always do."

"Angela I won't let you go back to being a prostitute, you're too nice for that."

"I won't hun, there's something here called The Salvation Army, and they help people like me. I'll get you to Central Park and then I'll go there."

"Promise me Angela you'll quit."

"I will Tifa I promise."

They got off the subway at Central Park.

"Tifa, you said your friend has to hide. There was an old building here that was going to be torn down, but if it's still standing then that might be where your friend is."

They searched for a while, and finally found a boarded up building. Tifa went around it, looking for an entrance and finally found a door. She opened it and peaked inside, but no one was there. She took a closer look, and saw that in one corner there were two make-shift beds, some pots, pans, and some clothes. Then she noticed in the other corner something big covered up with a tarp.

Pulling Angela behind her, she went inside and pulled the tarp off the object.

"Fenrir!" Tifa cried. "Angela, this means Cloud is here!"

"Good hun, now we just have to wait."

The next moment they both started at the sound of a man's voice behind them.

"Who the hell are you?"

Tifa and Angela turned to see Cloud and two others standing in the doorway.

Recognizing Tifa, Cloud looked surprised. "Tifa! How did you get here and who is that?" he questioned.

The five of them sat down on blankets to discuss what happened to them since they'd been transported from Cosmo Canyon to this strange world. First Yuffie told her story, then Tifa hers.

"Cloud, who is that and what have you been doing since you got here?" Yuffie was nosey.

"Yes Cloud, tell us why you're dressed like that?" Tifa wanted to know.

"Tifa, Yuffie, this is Jessy. She's an orphan who ran away from the home she was in. She's 16 so she has to hide from those cops. I told her, because she lives here and let me hide here, that I'd watch out for her.

She helped me to disguise myself, which is a good thing since after that incident in the store and subway, I'd have been recognized all over the city. She also taught me how to get around in this place, since I can't drive Fenrir."

Tifa nodded and felt sorry for the young woman who had helped him so much.

"Yuffie you have to change too. Maybe some of Jessy's clothes will fit you. Oh and one more thing, actually two. Our phones don't work around here but our materia does, though it takes more strength to use.

When Cloud said that, first they were shocked but then relieved.

Angela turned toward Tifa. "I have to go now; I'll leave you with your friend. I have to find that place I told you about."

"I know where it is." Jessy piped up. "Cloud, she shouldn't have to go there alone, would you go with her? I'll stay with your friends."

After Jessy told Cloud how to get there, he and Angela left. Now they had to wait again.


	11. In the air tonight

Barrett, Vincent, and Cid stood outside the museum keeping a close watch. In the truck behind them was Red accompanied by Dr. Brown. She had asked to come with them, and planned to get rid of the truck later. Vincent noticed that men were getting the people out of the museum.

"Cid, Barrett, they seem too close. It's getting dark, so we have to wait a while longer; let's go back to the truck."

After nightfall they returned to the fence. Quickly they cut a hole in it and ran toward a hangar, where Cid told them they would find the planes. They broke the lock and went inside. Three big airplanes stood before them.

"Earlier I couldn't get this close, but I think that one" Cid pointed to one plane "I can fly. I hope!" With this he went inside to check it out while Barrett and Vincent waited. Cid re-emerged after a while and explained the situation.

"Yeah it will work. It has more buttons than I'm used to, but I can fly it. You two will have to gas it up, then I'll start it, and when I am ready you open those hangar doors. It will make a lot of noise so we may not have much time before someone notices. Get Red in here, we can't wait for him, and tell that woman to take off, so she's safe and gone."

Vincent left to get Red, and Barrett and Cid gassed up the plane. With Cid and Red on board, Vincent and Barrett stood at the huge doors to wait for the signal from Cid. The engines of the plane rattled to life, very loudly. At first they sputtered, then smoothed out, but they still were noisy.

"What's going on here?" a man yelled. Turning quickly, Vincent noticed an elderly man in a blue uniform.

"Don't shoot him Barrett, I'll handle it." With a few jumps Vincent caught the man, held him and said. "We do not want to hurt you. We will tie you up, and tomorrow someone will find you. I am sorry, we need that plane, but we promise it will be in one piece when the museum gets it back."

Vincent tied the man up and set him on a blanket he found. Then he ran back to the doors. The plane started moving, very slow but steady.

Vincent and Barrett pulled the doors open, let the plane drive through and closed them again. Then they caught up and jumped on board. Vincent sat next to Cid and Barrett in the back by Red. Cid sped up the plane, but then noticed something. "Vincent that fence is in the way. What should we do?"

Vincent drew a materia out, a summon. "Let's hope this works, or we're dead." He called the summon, and there before the plane was ChogMog, who ran through the fence cutting a wide hole in it. Disaster averted, Vincent sank back into his seat. "Our materia works, but it is much more difficult to use. Just that summon took a lot of my strength."

"Holy shit. Red, Barrett, hold on tight, this is gonna shake you guys." Cid shouted "The pavement is ending and we'll be on the grass!" After some hard bumps and jolts, the plane picked up speed and slowly lifted into the air.

"Barret! Red! Are you ok back there?" Vincent wanted to know.

"No but we're alive" said Red, and from Barrett came."Cid re-do your pilot's license, I feel like someone used Earth on me." From Cid came the usual answer.

In a plane high in the sky, Cait thought about how he could find his friends in the City of New York. Walking around alone he would draw too much attention to himself. Anyone would notice a 3 foot tall black and white cat wearing a crown. _'I have to use the boy. I hate to do it, but there's no other way.'_

Slowly the nose of the plane went down and a man's voice told them that they would land in 15 minutes at LaGuardia airport in New York. Soon the family stood outside a building and then went into a yellow vehicle. They drove through different streets, and Cait watched closely. This city was huge, and he anticipated having some problems finding the Central Park or the museum.

After arriving at a tall building, the family got out of the vehicle and went inside. Soon they had two rooms connected by a door. The boy took Cait to a huge window, and looking out it, Cait noticed that there were a lot of lights, many streets, and a ways off a large dark rectangle.

'_Hmm why are there no lights on that spot?' _he wondered, but at that moment David asked his mother the same question.

"Davy, that over there is Central Park. Tomorrow or the next day we'll go there to visit the Zoo." It was a long way from the building where Cait was to the park, so he decided to wait.

"So Jessy, how did you find Cloud?" Yuffie was curious.

"Actually he found me. I've lived in this building for six months now, and one day I was coming back and found him hiding here. Then he told me his story, so I let him stay because he's cute." Then Jessy lowered her head.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked her.

"Over there in the streets live gangs. They, well let's just say a girl alone on the streets does not have it easy. I've been lucky, they haven't caught me, but it was close a couple of times."

Yuffie nodded."I know what you mean, like those asses in the subway."

"Exactly, they think girls are just there so they can have some fun. I can't fight like you guys can, so I was happy to have Cloud with me. I feel safe with him. But can you teach me some of those moves? I want to be able to defend myself when you guys leave."

Yuffie's eyes lit up."Sure I will. You loaned me some of your clothes, so I'll repay you with training, ok?" And the two girls took off into a second room.

Tifa sat quietly by the fire they had built. She was thinking about this world, and she did not like it much. At that time Cloud entered the building and walked over to her.

"Angela is safe. I got her to that place and came back so we can figure out what we're going to do."

"Cloud we need to talk. Yuffie and Jessy are in the back. I have an idea." And she told Cloud what she had come up with. They discussed it, and soon Cloud agreed, but told her to be quiet

about it.

Up in the air Cid flew east, not too high. Vincent still sat next to him and watched what Cid was doing. "How do you know how to get to New York?"

"Ok Vincent, I saw New York is on the ocean, so we'll fly until we see that, and then along the coast. We might have to land somewhere to find it exactly, but we'll make it." Vincent nodded. Studying the dashboard he pointed toward one button and asked "What is that one for, do you know?"

"It says Radio. Why don't you turn it? Wait I'll do it."

Cid turned the button, and from somewhere they heard a voice say "...the hell are you? Answer! Ok, whoever is flying that old piece of junk identify yourself or I'm calling the police!"

"Cid we're in trouble."

"What makes you say that Vincent?"

"I think somehow those people know we're here. Perhaps they are able to see us."

Barrett came to the front of the plane. "Vincent they got planes that are lightning quick. With this heap of junk we won't be able to get away if they come after us.

"Quit worrying" said Cid "we have to keep flying or we need to drive, and you said it was too far. Let's just hope for the best. I'll drop some altitude, maybe that'll help." Now the plane flew so low they could almost read the street signs. Cid being a good pilot followed water ways or roads.

They flew east for half of the night.

"Vincent we need gas soon; look for a large town but not a city. This heap can fly with normal gas." Vincent kept looking.

"There's one over there Cid, we can land at that gas station." After they landed, Cid and Vincent went to the gas station. "Hey you, where are we?" Cid asked a man who looked like he worked there.

"You're in Georgia, 50 miles away from Atlanta." he replied.

"Thank you." with this Vincent knocked the man out. They gassed up the plane and took off again. Barrett, Vincent and Red studied the map.

"Cid we're getting close to the ocean, when we reach it we'll have to fly north, but by the looks of it Atlanta seems to be a very large city. We may have to turn north earlier to avoid it. Cid?"

"HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT?"

They all stormed to the cockpit to see what Cid was talking about. A huge city loomed ahead of them.

"Atlanta." said Red quietly.

"Mr. President may I disturb you?"

"Sure go ahead."

"Sir a truck was found in Los Angeles that has been identified as the one that was stolen, and at the same time an airplane has been reported missing from a Torrance museum."

"Hmm maybe the same man that stole the truck took the plane, but then how did he get the truck to Los Angeles?"

"Sir we think there may be more than one person involved."

The president thought about that. "Ok, let's call the Air Force."

A few minutes later two military planes and a few helicopters took off from Los Angeles to search.


	12. Now we are eight again

After sitting still for a while on the boy's bed, Cait decided to act. He got off from the bed and went toward the door.

"I know you can talk, but you can move too?" piped a voice behind him.

Cait turned, and saw David sitting on his bed watching him. "Yes I can walk, I'm a robot. I have to find someone and something, David. I have to leave you, and you will never see me again. I am sorry. Oh, and my name is Cait Sith."

"Cait I won't let you go. I wanna keep you!"

"I know David, but please listen. I have friends here that need me, and I need them. We want to go home, we're not from here"

"Are you aliens or something like that? Are you going to hurt us?" asked the boy, now sounding scared.

"No, No, David. We will not hurt you I promise you that. But if I don't find my friends they might get hurt or even die, especially one of them."

David thought about what Cait had told him. "Were do you need to go? I'll take you there."

"David you can't. It's too dangerous for you, and you're too young."

"Then you're not going. I take you or you stay."

Sighing, Cait said "We need to get to Central Park. But your parents are still up."

"Then we'll wait until they leave; they're going to see a show later. I'll pretend to be asleep, then sneak out. I've done it before." Cait was not too happy about that, but agreed.

One hour later they crept out of the hotel.

When the two of them where outside the building, David whispered to Cait "It will take us about an hour to get to the park, but we have to move in groups of people so the cops don't notice that I'm alone."

"Alright David, we'll do that."

Forty-five minutes later, they arrived at Central Park and started to look around. After an hour, they saw a boarded up building. "David let's check there, maybe we'll find my friend." said Cait.

"Hello, what have we here?" a man's voice stopped David and Cait.

"A runaway, rich by the looks of him, here in our hood. Let's get him. His parents will pay to get him back in one piece."

"DAVID RUN!" yelled Cait. David took off in the direction of the building, and the man followed him. David got to the house, noticed a light inside, and screamed "Please someone, anyone help me!"

"Scream all you want, no one's gonna help you." the man said behind David, who turned and found himself facing twenty-five almost identically dressed men and women.

"Keep on screaming. We're alone."

"You're wrong about that" said a new voice.

"What the fuck..."

"Leave the boy alone or you die." growled the voice.

"Oh yeah man, what are you gonna do?"

The man who had spoken stepped out from a door David had not seen before. David's eyes widened, the newcomer was blond with glowing blue eyes, and he carried a huge sword. "I'll cut you into pieces." the man hissed and started to attack. Behind him came a woman and a girl who joined the fight.

Some of the gang drew guns, but the blond man made sure they never shot. It took only a few minutes for the three fighters to end the battle, now it was only the leader still standing there; the rest had run away or were unconscious.

The blond man stepped up to the leader. "Leave, and never return. If you call the cops, we will hunt you down and kill you. Never in your life return here, got it you son of a bitch?" Cloud kept an eye on the man who nodded. "Then go." he growled.

The leader started to walk, stopped suddenly, drew something and fired. A second later he was just a pile of ash, thanks to Yuffie casting Fire, but David sank to the ground hit by a bullet.

"David NO!" cried Cait.

"Cait? My gosh, how, what, never mind. Yuffie do you still have Restore?" Yuffie nodded.

A few moments later David sat on Tifa's lap and wondered what happened. Cloud was exhausted, but listened to what Cait told him anyway.

"David thank you for bringing Cait to us." Yuffie said to the boy. "Now we need to take you home."

"Can I ask you something first?" He looked at Cloud who nodded. "I have never seen anyone fight like you. Can I learn that too?"

Cloud smiled but shook his head "No David, I've been learning since I was fourteen, and in a different world. So I'm sorry but it's not possible."

"Then can I ask one more question please?"

"Sure go ahead."

"Do your eyes really glow?"

Cloud's smile faded. "Yes they do. I had something done to me which caused it. But let's not talk about that, ok?" The boy looked at the blond man and quietly nodded.

Tifa said to Jessy "You help me take him back to his parents. No Cloud you rest, with the healing you need it. We'll handle it."

"Sure Tifa." said Jessy "We'll take him to the nearest Police department, and they can bring him back to his parents."

An hour later Jessy and Tifa returned, now they only needed the rest of gang.

Somehow Cid managed to avoid Atlanta, and they finally made it to the ocean and headed north. Following the coastline, they spotted towns and cities. By keeping over the water they avoided most of them, until the pilot noticed something.

"Vincent we have to land soon."

"Why Cid?"

"It's getting light, and we'll soon be visible."

"Damn so close to New York. Hang on a minute." Vincent left and Cid heard a discussion in the back, then he returned with Red.

Red said "Find a town, and look for a lot with vehicles. We'll have to drive the rest of the distance, there's no other way."

Soon they saw a town ahead, and at the outskirts, a farm. After they landed in an abandoned field nearby, Vincent crept toward the farm buildings. Being an Ex-Turk, he was the mostly likely to remain undetected.

Vincent noticed a barn and went inside, where her saw a pickup truck like Jonny's. He smiled at the sight of the old tarp covered truck. _'Perfect'_ he thought and searched for the keys, which he was surprised to find stuck in the ignition. Vincent shook his head; the inhabitants of this world were strange, one time trusting everyone, the next wanting to kill them all. Vincent drove the truck over to his friends.

Cid and Vincent had been up all night while Barrett had slept for most of the flight, so he drove while his friends sat in the back, either asleep or watching. Barrett noticed a sign.

"Toward I-95, Washington DC, New York City and all of New England."

He decided to follow the sign, and ended up on a wide street. Soon he saw another sign.

"Washington DC 20 miles, New York City 240 miles"

Underneath he noticed a different sign which read "Speed limit 65 mph" Based on this information, Barrett deduced that it would not take them more than five hours to get to Cloud.

The next morning Cloud and his group stayed in their hideout in Central Park and talked. Cait had told them about the crystals, but with the other four still missing they had to wait. Jessy turned on the radio to listen to the news, waking up Tifa and Yuffie who were still half asleep from having just gotten back that night.

"In San Diego, a lion caught two days ago has escaped from the Zoo. It was either stolen or released by someone. The lion is described as young, with unusual red coloring.

"RED" exclaimed Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie at the same time. Jessy looked confused.

"One of our friends." explained Yuffie. Jessy wanted to ask something, but Cloud interrupted her. "Shh listen."

"In Torrance a plane was stolen from a museum. It was an older model, last seen in Georgia where a man described as having dark-hair, red eyes, and a very pale complexion, knocked a gas station employee unconscious."

"Vincent! Maybe Cid!" this came from Tifa.

"SHH."

"A man killed five Army personnel in the desert of Nevada. He was last seen in Las Vegas two days ago. Described as a tall black man, he is considered armed and dangerous. This man is wanted by the Army and Police for trespassing, murder, and theft of government property. He may have joined the other two fugitives. The police in New York are still looking for the blond maniac who wrecked havoc in New York. If you see any of these men, please call 1-800..."

"Barrett too." said Cloud."Now we know they're still alive but... hmm let's see." Cloud pulled his phone out and dialed.

Barrett's phone rang, and he pulled over to answer it. "Barrett speaking. Holy shit, Cloud! Where? Yeah I'll listen. Damn. Ok we'll be in New York in about three to four hours. Stay put; tell me how to get to you. Oh they're with me, yeah we're together. Bye."

Red peeked through the tarp. "Red, tell Vincent and Cid if they're awake, that Yuffie, Tifa and Cait are with Cloud in New York. They might have found a way out of here. They'll wait for us there, but Cloud said the Army and Police are looking for us." And Barrett drove off.

Cloud turned toward the girl and smiled. "Barrett and the others are on their way, and they're about three to four hours away from us. I told them what they needed to know. So Jessy, we need a map from New York. We only have one chance. Tonight we'll break into that museum."

Jessy stared at him in disbelief. "Are you nuts? You can't do that! Tonight is the opening night remember? You guys will get hurt or killed!" She started to sob.

Cloud laid a hand on her arm. "Jessy we need those crystals or we can't go home. One of my friends is hunted as an animal here, and another is considered a killer because he defended himself. And if they ever caught me and found out about my treatment, they would cut me up to see how I work, you know that. Jessy please help us."

Yuffie and Tifa held their breath, and Tifa said in a low voice "Jessy the man who they hunt as a killer has a five year old daughter. She got left behind, and he loves her a lot. Please Jessy."

"Cloud I know, but what am I going to do when you and your friends are gone?"

Cloud looked at her. "Jessy, Tifa and I discussed that last night. You are like my little sister. If it works, we'll take you with us."

"Wheeheee!" this came from Yuffie.

Barrett turned the radio on and listened to music. Then he heard a man speaking.

"The fugitives who stole a plane in Torrance are assumed to be in the greater Washington DC area, where the plane has been found abandoned in a field. The discovery of the plane coincides with a report of a truck stolen from a farm very near the area, and it is likely that the fugitives headed either north or south on Interstate 95. Police and Army officers have been dispatched to look for them."

"Holy shit, we have a problem guys. Call Cloud!"

Cloud's phone rang, and he answered. "Red, what? Oh no! Get your asses over here quick! We'll wait here!" Jessy stared at him, so Cloud explained.

"Barrett and the others are in trouble. Their plane was discovered, and the Police and Army have almost caught up to them. Please, we need to start the plan now."

Jessy looked at him and nodded, then she left to steal a map. She returned shortly with one and they sat down to study it. Cait had told them the address of the museum, and they found it at Battery Park.

Cloud studied the way from Central Park to Battery Park and groaned. "No not 42nd Street again."

Jessy giggled. "Oh yeah Cloud, down 7th Ave. 'til 42nd Street, then west toward 12th Ave. which turns into West Street, going past the World Trade Center until Battery Park."

Tifa looked at Cloud. "Why don't you want to go over 42nd Street?"

"It's where I drove into the subway. I don't like that place." he growled. Tifa and Yuffie giggled at the look on Cloud's face.

"Cait, you go with Tifa and Yuffie on the truck when the others get here. I'll take Jessy with me on Fenrir, she might be of help. We are all going together, and guys, have your Materia ready."

"You're taking me on that bike, cool." Jessy said, excited to hear she would be riding with Cloud.

"Your ass is gonna hurt Jessy, Fenrir is not very comfortable." warned Tifa.

"I don't care, that bike is cool, and I've wanted to ride on it."

"Now you have the opportunity." said Cloud "But Jessy, I drive fast, so you'll have to hold on. But don't worry, I'm quicker and have better reflexes than most normal men, so just close your eyes if you need to, but don't let go!" Jessy noticed that Cloud's eyes were glowing again.

"He's right you have to hold on. No one in this world is as quick as Cloud, oh and his sword can cut through almost anything." Tifa added.

Jessy swallowed but nodded, and Cloud went to change and get Fenrir ready.


	13. Final Fantasy against New York

Barrett and the others arrived three hours later, and they all collected themselves at the beginning of 7th Ave. Cloud was with Jessy on Fenrir, and the others in the truck.

"This is it guys." said Cloud. "Cait has the directions to where we have to go, so Vincent you have to try to follow me. I'll likely get there faster, so I'll wait for you at the museum doors. Let's go!" At this moment a helicopter flew overhead, a police helicopter.

They started slow down 7th Ave. so they wouldn't draw too much attention to themselves. Cid looked out the back of the truck, and noticed first one, then a few more helicopters. Some blue-white, and some black. Then he spotted a vehicle that was blue and white with lights on the roof, and on the side of the vehicle was written "POLICE".

"Shit we have company. Call Cloud, we need to move."

Jessy had Cloud's phone open on her jacket, so she could hold on but still talk. She heard a yell. "Cloud move, we have company, look up!" Cloud looked in his mirrors, noticed the helicopters and sped up.

"Jessy, tell them it's all or nothing." Jessy relayed the message and tightened her grip. Cloud could weave in and out of traffic on his bike, but the truck was not so agile and fell behind. Vincent decided to go for broke. Pushing the pedal to the floor he sped up, now driving almost full speed. If vehicles got in his way, he either changed lanes or flashed the lights to make them move out of his path. Now he pulled up to Cloud again.

The helicopters continued to follow, and they were getting closer. "God damned sons of bitches, they're gonna get us. Now what?" Cid looked at his friends.

"I have an idea, stand back." this came from Tifa. She pulled a materia out und used it, resulting in two of the helicopters going up in flames. "Fire? Are you stupid girl?" asked Cait.

"Cait those men have guns, they're going to kill us if we don't fight."

Vincent noticed that Cloud slowed down a bit and then made a right turn into a street. He followed quickly.

"Vincent next time warn us please, would you? Or I'll kick your ass!"

"Sorry Yuffie no time. Just try to hold on!" One black helicopter came closer and flew past the truck, then turned and came towards them starting to shoot. A moment later there was something silver flying through the air which hit the helicopter and cut of the rotor, then returned to the back of the truck. Yuffie had thrown her conformer.

Vincent grinned; they could handle the situation now.

Then they heard sirens.

"Those are police cars, now what?" Cait asked.

"We wait. If they get too close we'll handle it." answered Vincent.

Cloud also noticed the police cars and sped up a little more. _'I hope she holds on.'_ he thought. There were six helicopters and quite a few police cars behind them, when suddenly five more black helicopters arrived. These had funny looking add-ons underneath. One of the new ones fired.

"Shit Cloud watch out!" Suddenly there was a huge hole in the street ahead. Cloud's eyes widened, but he managed to swerve around the hole.

Stopping Fenrir, he considered what to do next. Those new helicopters were dangerous, and they needed a way to get rid of them.

Jessy held on but watched what Cloud was doing. He pulled one of those materia out, a red one. Just then Vincent drove past in the truck. "What is Cloud doing?" yelled Yuffie.

"Well..."

"Yuffie Cloud is faster than we are, he'll catch up." Barrett told her, and Tifa said "He has a summon out. Let's go!"

Jessy continued to watch Cloud with interest. She noticed that the materia started to glow, and then she heard a loud thunder. Cloud took off again, but Jessy turned her head to look. Behind the new black helicopters came out of the sky an 80 foot dragon. "What is that?" she asked in wonder. "Bahamut" came the reply from Cloud. With a blue ball of light the dragon destroyed the helicopters and disappeared.

Cloud had caught up to the truck and passed it, when he felt Jessy hit him on the shoulder.

"What?"

"Watch Cloud, soon you have to make a sharp left, so slow down a little or we'll end up in the water." Cloud nodded and slowed down, the truck doing the same. After they made the turn, Jessy yelled "We'll stay on this street until the park, so keep going!" And Cloud sped up again.

Cid was still looking out of the truck. The helicopters had pulled back a little, but now the police cars came closer. "Ok guys who has Earth?" he asked.

"That's me." The answer came from Yuffie.

"Well girl, now it's your turn." Yuffie stood up.

In San Diego a man sat before a TV. He was watching a newsflash that had run now for almost half an hour. The reporter was saying "Now there is a report of a minor earthquake in New York City. First those fugitives on the run, then some kind of dragon appearing in the sky, what will be next?"

The camera showed two vehicles being pursued by the police, a huge motorcycle and a truck. Suddenly the head of a red animal could be seen peaking out of the back of the truck. "Wow dude." the man in front of the TV said. "Cool, you go Vinny!" And Jimmy laughed.

A woman was watching the same scene. _'Nanaki, be careful. I hope you make it'_ thought Dr. Brown.

In the distance Cloud noticed two tall buildings, standing out even among all the other tall structures in the city. On his right side was water, the Hudson that Jessy mentioned.

A police car came around a corner and drove up alongside Cloud. "Tighten your grip!" he yelled to Jessy. Opening Fenrir's cache he pulled out First Blade and took aim. When the car tried to hit him, Cloud swung at it and the police car swerved off to avoid the strike. The next time they attacked, Cloud waited for just the right moment; the second the car touched Fenrir, he reacted lightning quick and struck a gash on the hood. Smoke began to pour out, and the other vehicle was left behind in Fenrir's dust.

Jessy had watched all this over Cloud's shoulder. _'Boy they weren't kidding he is fast.'_ she thought. Now she felt safer.

When a second police car came up to them, the first hit from Cloud took the lights off the roof. After that it stayed away from them, but Cloud noticed one of the men inside draw a gun and aim at Jessy and him. _'Jessy!'_ he thought. He drove toward the vehicle now. He needed to attack.

A few shots rang out and Cloud dodged the bullets with his sword, but he noticed Jessy flinching.

"Don't worry, I'll watch out for you." he reassured her. Cloud took one huge swing at the car, and the next instant it was missing most of the front including a wheel. The car swerved off to the right, hit the rail, went through and disappeared into the water.

In the truck behind him, Tifa and Barrett watched the helicopters as they disappeared to the left and then flew ahead.

"Now where are they going?"

"Tifa I think they're going to stop us ahead."

"Cloud, Tifa here. Watch those helicopters that flew ahead."

Cid started to curse; he had noticed three more police cars coming up. Barrett stood up. "Now it's my turn, stand back."

The cops in the cars were surprised as suddenly ice appeared directly in front of them. Two seconds later the police cars and a few other vehicles were just a pile of junk.

"Holy shit, what are those guys? They're not your normal criminals. They… oh forget it. My head hurts." said one of the cops to his partner who just stared at the rubble, then got on the dispatch. "All vehicles pull back. Those guys have weapons we can't match. Let the helicopters and the Army handle it. Over and out."

The gang in the truck noticed that the police cars still followed them, but now at a greater distance.

Cloud was getting very close to those two tall buildings he had noticed earlier, when he heard a sound above and looked up. There in the space between the buildings were the helicopters.

"Jessy what are those buildings?"

"Cloud, those are the twin towers of the World Trade Center. There are people working in there."

Cloud swore, he did not want to hurt innocent people. He stopped, then signaled for the truck to stop as well. Vincent pulled up next to him.

"What is it Cloud?"

"You drive ahead Vincent, don't stop! In those buildings are people. I'll draw the attention toward me. Jessy you get on the truck now, hurry." Jessy got off Fenrir and sat next to Vincent. She was holding her hand in front of her abdomen and looked pale.

'_That ride did not agree with her'_ thought Vincent before taking off again.

Cloud waited patiently for the helicopters. He watched them fly toward him, with only one white and blue one following his friends. He started to smile. _'Come on you Sons of bitches, you're mine now._' he thought and sheathed his sword. Cloud had decided against Knights of the Round, and instead he drew Neo Bahamut.

The helicopters drew closer but stayed between the buildings. '_Ok have it your way'_ Cloud thought. People on the street were already staring at the blond man with the huge sword and motorcycle, and many watched in awe as suddenly he lifted an arm. Then they noticed something glowing with a red blinding light, followed by a terribly loud thundering sound in the sky.

The people looked up, and what they saw made them start to scream and run in terror. Out of nowhere an immense red dragon appeared. It stayed suspended in the air and opened its mouth, in front of which formed a ball of yellow flames that grew larger and larger until it transformed into a beam.

As the beam struck, the helicopters exploded instantly and window panes shattered on the buildings. Watching this, Cloud hoped that not too many people were injured. He started Fenrir and took off again after his friends.

A little while later he caught up with them and both vehicles drove toward Battery Park. There in the distance Cloud recognized the statue he had seen when he had first arrived, and ahead on his left there was a park.

"Thank God we made it!" He drove into the Park, the truck following him, and a few minutes later he stopped. There up two staircases was the museum. Vincent pulled up behind him, and they all looked at the entrance in silence. Then Vincent shouted "Jessy! NO!"

Cloud turned toward the truck, and saw that Jessy was slumped over. "What?"

"She got hit in the stomach by a bullet. Barrett carry her! Cloud we need to get into that museum so we can take care of her. Get us in NOW!"

Fuming, Cloud drew Hallow Blade. "I'll open those doors and cut a path for you to follow. When I find that room where the materia is, I'll wait for you there. I'm taking Fenrir and the rest of my sword with me. See ya!" With this Cloud drove up the stairs, and upon reaching the top, drew First Blade. Now he wielded two swords.

Steering Fenrir only with his knees, he took aim, and the glass doors of the museum were pulverised an instant later. Cloud drove Fenrir in, stopped, and sheathed the smaller blade while looking around. He spotted a man and drove over. Holding his sword to the man's throat he growled "Where are those crystals? Talk or you'll die."

"That...That way." the man stuttered, pointing toward a hallway with a glass ceiling. Cloud drove on, scraping the floor to show his friends the way. A few twists and turns later he arrived in a room with a high ceiling, in which stood a balustrade. "The big materia" whispered Cloud. He had made it.

"What are you doing here? I'm calling the cops, you're that nutcase!" Cloud turned his head, there stood a darker skinned woman with long black hair, dressed in an unusual way.

"I already took care of the cops, they won't come. I need those crystals, and if you hinder me you'll get hurt, stay away!" What the woman saw scared the living daylights out of her; a man dressed in a black uniform with a sword in hand, on a motorcycle glaring at her with glowing blue eyes. She decided not to move.

Then they heard a scream, and an instant later Yuffie tore into the room. She stopped and yelled "Jessy...she's dead!" A few moments later the woman watched three men, a woman, and a red lion carrying a toy cat enter the room. The tallest dark skinned man was carrying a girl who appeared to be fatally injured.

Cloud got off Fenrir and ran over to them. "Hand her to me, I still have Revive."

"No Cloud, you already used those summons." Tifa tried to stop him.

"Leave it Tifa. I promised her that nothing would happen to her. I will never break another promise in my life."

Barrett laid Jessy gently on the floor. "Hurry up those cops may be getting close. We're running out of time."

The woman stood there and watched the blond man pull out a smaller version of the crystals in the museum. Then he knelt next to the girl, and there was a soft green light. Her eyes grew big as she noticed that the girl's chest began to rise and fall. The blond stood up and waited quietly.

Jessy opened her eyes and stared at Cloud. "What? You?"

"I used a materia to bring you back. Now if you can get up, please step next to Barrett. I'll open the glass cases."

"Please tell me, are those crystals magic?" the woman asked.

Red turned toward her. "Yes ma'am you could say that. They are what brought us here, and now we are going to use them to get back home. But ma'am in our world there are many dangers not known here. So please do not use those crystals like we do or let anyone do it." The woman looked at Red, nodded, then said "One of you knock me out please, then I can say I have seen nothing."

"No ma'am, but you could lie. We don't hurt the innocent."

Cloud stepped in the middle of the four display cases. Holding his sword horizontal, he made a 360° turn and broke the glass covering the crystals. "Red, Vincent, Tifa, Cid, you each take one of the materia, I'll get Fenrir."

All of them drew together in a close circle, before bringing the four crystals together. The woman closed her eyes at the blinding flash that came next.

"_This is Tom Goodyear speaking; today the most exciting things happened in New York City. A group of fugitives got chased through Manhattan, during which people reported that some kind of dragons appeared in the sky over the city, one of them destroying five helicopters between the towers of the World Trade Center. Only minor injuries were reported as windows were blown out. Then the police chased the fugitives into the Smithsonian Institution at Battery Park where they found the entrance destroyed, four broken displays, and Mrs. Bowfeather a Native American museum worker unconscious. There were no other witnesses, and the fugitives seemed to disappear into thin air."_

"Daddy where were you, and who is that?"


End file.
